Food Briefs

Q. Most meat eaters love a juicy steak, but don't always want to cook out, so what is the best way to cook a steak indoors?

A. We set out to find which methods of cooking and seasoning gave the best results. We limited the seasoning to salt and black pepper, which we added at different points.

Using the same amount, we seasoned 6-ounce New York steaks three ways -- an hour before cooking, at the start of cooking and at the end of cooking.

We also cooked the steaks three ways -- one completely in a skillet on the stovetop, one seared on the stovetop then finished in the oven, and the third one broiled. We cooked all the steaks to medium-rare.

We preferred the pan-fried steak that had been seasoned one hour before cooking. It had a crisp, caramelized surface (the classic steak look) and was tender and juicy. While prevailing wisdom says salting meat ahead of cooking draws out too much moisture, we didn't find that to be the case with these steaks.

The steak that was first seared and then finished in a 425-degree oven was a close second, but the texture wasn't quite as good.

The broiled steak was a distant third. It was tough and rubbery and didn't look as appealing.